Browsing by Author "Piyumal, P.L.A.K."

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Analysis of Impedance Matching Technique for Novel Supercapacitor Assisted PV Systems
(IEEE Computer Society, 2020-10) Piyumal, P.L.A.K.; Ranaweera, A.L.A.K.; Kalingamudali, S.R.D.; Kularatna, N.
To extract the maximum power from a photovoltaic (PV) system, the maximum power point (MPP) of the PV array must be tracked continuously. A directly coupled load with the PV array does not track the MPP of the PV array because the load has a constant resistive value. Therefore, to track the MPP of the PV array, a technique called impedance matching is used. This is done by continuously matching the load impedance to the instantaneous impedance of the PV array. Switch mode DC-DC converters are widely used for this purpose which also helps to interface the DC output of the PV array with power distribution systems in order to deliver the power to the consumer end. However, the efficiency of these converters lies around 90% which degrade the end to end efficiency of the PV system. In this context, novel supercapacitor (SC) assisted PV systems have been introduced, which were able to enhance the end to end efficiency of PV systems. However, existing impedance matching technique is no longer valid for SC assisted PV systems. Therefore, still it is a challenge for these systems to track MPP of the PV array continuously while in operation. This paper presents a study on impedance matching technique for the novel SC assisted PV systems. Previously, it has been experimentally shown that a series connected SC bank between PV array and DC-DC buck converter of a PV system could deliver higher end to end efficiency than typical systems. This study validates the impedance matching technique for SC assisted PV systems by connecting a SC bank in series with buck, boost, and buck-boost converters. Simulation results indicate that this can be achieved by carefully designing the system with given parameters. © 2020 IEEE. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9254315
Energy efficient hybrid water heating system
(2016) Piyumal, P.L.A.K.; Nagahapitiya, N.W.H.G.B.; Jayatissa, N.W.K.; de Silva, D.S.M.
As the world’s energy resources are diminishing, we need to find greener solutions through renewable energy sources that can generate electricity for heating, lighting homes and for a variety of commercial and industrial uses. Among many types of renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar energy, are constantly replenished and will never run out. At present we are experiencing an electrical energy shortage in Sri Lanka. However, we are still wasting so much of electrical energy in spite of the above crisis. The University of Kelaniya has many cafeterias. The cafeteria attached to the Gymnasium is the largest food and refreshments supplier in the university. The main refreshment for the students is hot tea. Hence, every day, every hour, the canteen has to produce a large number of cups of tea by using considerable amount of electrical energy for boiling water. Hence, the purpose of this project is to minimize the electricity consumption in the boiler using freely available sunlight. Initially, the project was focused to power the boiler using a photovoltaic array. Even though this method was straight forward, investigations have shown that this method was not financially viable. Hence, the next approach was to utilize solar thermal energy to heat the make-up water to the boiler which is significantly cheaper to implement than the previous. Fresh water is circulating through the heat exchanger unit placed on the top of the roof of the cafeteria. Heated water is fed to the boiler as make-up water. Although the heating system is unable to produce boiling water. It is capable of producing nearly half of the energy requirement for boiling the water. A temperature sensor was placed to measure the boiler temperature and the output of the sensor is fed to the heating element to maintain the boiler temperature at 373 K. According to the observation it is clear that make-up water temperature in the morning is 332 K which is little lower than the temperature of make-up water in the afternoon which is 342 K due to overnight cooling of the storage tank. Therefore, morning electricity consumption of the boiler is little larger than the evening. The average daily hot water consumption for making tea is approximately 78 liters in the morning and 88 liters in the afternoon. According to the calculations, it can be shown that the hybrid system is capable of saving 50% of electrical energy of the boiler. It can be concluded that the total energy provided by the solar heating system or the saving of the system is around 2450 kWh per annum.
Improving the Energy Storage of Standalone PV Systems while Enhancing the Charging Efficiency using Supercapacitors
(IEEE Xplore Digital Library, 2019) Piyumal, P.L.A.K.; Ranaweera, A.L.A.K.; Kalingamudali, S.R.D.; Kularatna, N.
Usually a battery is used as the energy storage device in typical standalone solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. It is charged by a solar charge controller. The charging efficiency of the system depends on the efficiency of the DC-DC converter of solar charge controller. However, a considerable amount of usable energy is wasted during the charging process. In this work, a method is proposed to utilize this wasted energy and thereby to enhance the charging efficiency. In the case of an empty capacitor being charged by an external source, it stores only half of the energy delivered by the source as compared to that of an electrochemical battery. Therefore, it wastes 50% of useful energy. A portion of this wasted energy can be collected and utilized if a useful resistive load is connected in series to this capacitor charging loop. In this study, a DC-DC converter and battery bank is connected as the useful resistive load in the capacitor charging loop. A supercapacitor (SC) bank is used replacing the conventional capacitor. Therefore, total energy loss in capacitor charging loop can be minimized by storing energy in both battery bank and SC bank. This concept is introduced into a typical PV system for reducing its energy losses. Experimental results show an enhancement in charging efficiency when this new method is employed. The energy stored in the SC bank could be used for driving loads with required electronics.
Novel Approach for Harnessing Maximum Energy from PV Systems using Supercapacitors
(IEEE Xplore, 2018) Piyumal, P.L.A.K.; Ranaweera, A.L.A.K.; Kalingamudali, S.R.D.; Kularatna, N.
Typical standalone solar photovoltaic (PV) systems use battery bank as the energy storage device. The battery bank is charged by using a solar charge controller connected to a solar array. For similar PV systems, charging efficiency mostly depends on the efficiency of DC-DC converter available inside the charge controller. However, considerable amount of usable energy will be wasted during the charging process. In this work, a method is proposed to utilize this wasted energy while enhancing the end to end efficiency of standalone PV systems. When an empty capacitor is charged by an external source, it stores only a half of the energy delivered by the source as compared to the case of an electrochemical battery. As a result, 50% of useful energy is lost in the charging loop of a capacitor. If a useful resistive load is connected to this loop, some amount of energy can be utilized by doing a beneficial work. In this study, a DC-DC converter and battery bank has been chosen as the useful load in the capacitor charging loop, and a supercapacitor (SC) bank is used replacing the conventional capacitor. Therefore, total energy loss can be minimized by storing energy in both battery and SC bank. The energy stored in the SCs could be used for driving loads with required electronics. Consequently, it leads to an improvement of end to end efficiency of the PV system.